One of the 8 immigrants who were brought to Albania yesterday returns to Italy

One of the eight migrants who were brought to a reception center in Albania on Friday - for processing asylum applications in Italy - has been returned to Italy after being deemed "vulnerable", a delegation of Italian activists and lawmakers said on Saturday. who visited the center.

The immigrant from Egypt was diagnosed with "psychic problems", so it was impossible for him to be kept in the reception center in Gjader, said one of the activists.

Right now, only seven migrants – five from Bangladesh and two from Egypt – are in the reception center in Albania.

The group of eight migrants was the second to be sent to Albania since the reception centers began operating in October, under the agreement reached between Italy and Albania last year.

Human rights groups and non-governmental organizations have criticized the agreement, calling it a dangerous precedent that is inconsistent with international law.

The agreement allows up to 3,000 migrants - who are apprehended by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month - to be sent to Albania, where they will be evaluated for asylum in Italy, or return to their home countries.

Italy has agreed to welcome migrants who win asylum, while those whose asylum claims are rejected are directly deported from Albania.

Italy initially sent a group of 16 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt to Albania last month. Four of them returned to Italy on the same day because they were minors or had health problems.

The other twelve were turned back three days later, after a court in Rome ordered that they not be held in Albania because their countries of origin - Bangladesh and Egypt - were not safe countries.

Angered by this decision, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni decided to update the legal status of the list of safe countries, making it a legal act instead of a ministerial decree, believing that this would make it more difficult for courts to challenge the validity of HIS

The five-year deal is said to cost Italy €160 million a year.

According to the agreement, procedures for immigrants will be carried out in two centers.

The first center in Shengjin will be used for immigrant identification procedures, while the second center, in Gjadër, about 20 kilometers from the port, will serve to house immigrants until they process asylum applications.

The centers will operate according to Italian law, with Italian security staff, while the judges will conduct the hearings via video link from Rome./REL/